Note to General Readers: Sorry to insert this episode as it is a Skeoch vignette of limited
interest to those of you looking for excitement ! In these episodes I try to balance interesting
stories with a dab or two of family history. Call this a dab of family history . The pandemic
gives all of us time to dab bits of family history. I know hat from he email letters I get back
from some readers.
EPISODE 211 JAMES SKEOCH SHORTLY BEFORE HE WAS KILLED IN 1918
alan skeoch
Dec. 2020
JAMES SKEOCH…LAST PHOTOGRAPH BEFORE HE WAS KILLED IN 1918
Look up top, far right. That is the last image anyone ever saw of James Skeoch… riding in a 1918 troop
carrier to or from a rest break at a YMCA cafe in France. I think this picture was sent to me by Tina Skeoch
from the Skeoch farm at Corunna Tina corresponded often with James.
James was the oldest child of James Skeoch sr. When World War 1 broke out he volunteered o
join the Canadian army and was eventually shipped with other Fergus volunteers to England and then to the trenches of France.
His enthusiasm did not last long.. Somehow at least one of his letters escaped the eyes of the censors
and was sent to my father, Arnold (Red) Skeoch. In that letter James states clearly that his brothers
should not join he army. The letter gave me the feeling that James did not expect to survive the war.
Arnold was unlikely to join the army anyway as he was only 12 or 13 when the war began and 16 or 17
when the war ended. Dad’s brother John, however, was prime military age and seems to have
taken his brother James advice.
alan skeoch
Dec. 2020
THE SKEOCH LETTERS OF THE `830’s and 1840’S
P.S. Two decades ago I spent one winter laboriously transferring the hand written Skeoch letters of
the 1830’s and 1840’s into typewritten form Soon to be transferred to digital form. These letters
are interesting but a little difficult to put into context. At some point in the mid 1840’s a decision was
made to leave Scotland. Not all the family migrated. Some were left behind, particularly the elderly.
Most came to Canada. Some to the United States.
Why? Were they pushed out of Scotland by misery? Or did they see a chance of great wealth in pioneer farming
in Canada? Push or pull.? I found both.
One other branch moved
to St. Croix, Virgin Islands where they owned and ran a plantation. A book was written about
that branch titled Robert Skeoch, Cruzan Planter. We became aware of this branch of the family
when my wife Marjorie suggested we look up Skeoch’s in a Scottish phone book while on tour in the 1960’s
The visit was wonderful… elderly Skeoch farm family closely associated with the Virgin Island
branch. Back in Canada when we told Aunt Elizabeth about that she packed a bag and
flew to the Virgin Islands to meet any she could find.
Another flourishing branch high tailed it to Australia. We write back and forth
often. The connection was made in the strangest way. I discovered that I was
not the only Alan Skeoch…there were three of us unknown to each other. The third
was a dentist in California who recently passed away before I could bother him.
Back in Scotland the family seems to have thrived as well. Even to the point of trying
to establish a car industry by manufacturing The Little Skeoch in 1921. Unfortunately the
factory caught fire and burned to the ground. Today, however, some enterprising men
in Dalbeattie, Scotland, have successfully rebuilt a model of the Little Skeoch. Look it
up on the internet…you will even see the little car moving.
STOP! STOP, ALAN! PLEASE STOP!
In a subsequent Episode I willi include copies of the Skeoch letters even though it is doubtful
they will interest general readers. Wait! Give me time. I can find a hook that might make
the letters of broader interest.
ENJOY the picture of James Skeoch above. You do not have to be a relative to find
that photo interesting. Worth researching even.
P>A> I HEARD YOU SAY THAT…HEARD YOU SAY “I AM SICK AND TIRED
OF ALAN’S EPISODES” (I do not blame you.)